


love is not a choice

by clawsnbeak



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Boys Kissing, Cinderella Elements, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Pride, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 22:03:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20071306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clawsnbeak/pseuds/clawsnbeak
Summary: Adam goes to his first ever Pride and kisses a hot guy to piss off protesters.





	love is not a choice

**Author's Note:**

> i know pride month is over but rn it's pride in amsterdam (where i'm from) so i felt the need to write this
> 
> i might make a sequel from ronan's pov but not sure yet so let me know!

Kissing one of the most attractive guys Adam had ever seen during his first Pride was not something he had expected beforehand. And yet here he was.

Adam had come out only recently, to Blue first and then Gansey. Blue had coaxed it out of him gently, giving him the reassurance he needed every step of the way there. She had realised there was something bothering him but Adam didn’t know what it was himself until he started daydreaming about one of the other students in his Molecular & Cellular Biology class. A male student.

At first, he had wanted to keep it to himself, something to figure out later when he had more time, but the next time he saw Blue, the words jumbled out of his mouth with no way of stopping it. She had been lovely because of course, she had, she had come out as bi the moment they started dating, so he didn’t expect anything else. 

They had sat together with some of her mom’s tea that was supposed to help with clarity and talked until deep into the night. Adam had finally settled on a term to describe himself that he felt most comfortable with: bisexual. 

He had then told Gansey, who was more than interested and immediately checked out multiple books from the library that explained what his and other sexualities entailed. Adam felt embarrassed by it but he knew Gansey meant well. 

Not long after, Gansey had come out as pansexual.

Since then he had come out to a few more people. Students who asked about his girlfriend, which he corrected with “or boyfriend”, that one lovely professor who always looked at him with kind eyes. It was getting easier every day and Adam finally started to feel comfortable in his own skin.

Pride took place a few months later. Blue had come to his and Gansey’s dorm, her backpack filled with pride flags and self-made outfits, and proudly presented him with chalk in the colours of the bisexual flag. 

His first instinct was to say no. He had only just come out and he didn’t know how he was going to react to the crowds, the loud noises, the craziness of it all. Despite himself, he nodded though, knowing somewhere deep in his heart that he wanted to meet _his people_. Others like him that would make him feel less lonely in the world. 

When he saw Blue’s beaming smile directed at him, he knew he had made the right decision.

“You’re gonna look great,” Blue said, carefully lathering his cheek with chalk. “I’m an amazing artist.”

“It’s just some chalk, Blue,” Adam laughed, taking in the slight pout on her lips. “But I’m sure you’re doing great.”

“You bet your freckled ass I am!” Blue exclaimed, never losing her intense concentration. Adam could feel her stare burning through his cheek. “Now hold still and let me finish this.”

When Adam checked himself in the mirror, he couldn’t help but smile. Blue had made the flag perfectly square and the eyeliner she insisted on, turned his eyes into molten gold. He carefully pulled his old t-shirt off and put the crop top Blue had given him on. He then settled the blue and pink flower crown on his head which was also made by Blue and gave himself one last look.

He had never looked more like himself.

Adam stepped out of the bathroom and found Blue torturing Henry this time. Though he received kisses on the nose as a way to keep him quiet.

“She’s going full out,” Gansey said from beside him, a soft smile on his face directed at the two. Adam felt a surge of happiness for them. It wasn’t always easy for the three to be together, they often got shit from other students who didn’t understand the love they had for each other but Adam always saw it as nothing but beautiful.

Gansey got up and pecked Blue on her forehead. He murmured something in her ear and her loving smile turned mischievous. 

“Close your eyes,” she told Henry, while Gansey got behind him and cuddled him to his chest.

“Are you seriously tag-teaming me?” Henry asked indignantly but leaned back into Gansey’s chest all the same. 

“You’re gonna love it,” Blue assured him and joined them in cuddling for a second. Adam averted his gaze to give them some privacy and fiddled with his phone instead. 

He wasn’t jealous of their love, not even jealous of Blue dating other people after they broke up, but he did wish he had a love to call his own. A deep and profound connection with someone that would make your heart race and feel comfortably familiar at the same time. 

He had tried, of course. Went on dates with girls, guys, everything in between and out of it, but he never found that spark with someone he was so desperately seeking.

When he finally turned his attention back to his friends, Henry’s eyelids were painted in the colours of the rainbow. It was skillfully done and if he hadn’t been anticipating Pride so much, he would’ve asked Blue to do the same to him. 

They finally arrived at the Pride parade half an hour later and Adam didn’t know where to look. There were people with numerous flags everywhere, waving around in the wind. There were people of all kinds happily talking among themselves, couples of all genders kissing each other lovingly, little kids with on the back of their parent’s neck with tiny rainbow flags.

Adam felt overwhelmed but in the best way possible. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked down at Henry smiling. 

“Take it all in man,” he said, patting his shoulder softly. “I felt this way too the first time. Let it all out.”

Adam hadn’t even realised a few tears were rolling down his cheeks. He immediately thought of the flags decorating his skin, but Blue must have noticed the panic in his eyes.

“I used setting spray,” she told him kindly. “I was prepared.”

They walked around for a bit, laughing and smiling at the antics of other people. They lost each other in the crowd but Adam didn’t particularly mind. He would find them again and it was nice to take in the experience without the distractions of others.

Adam was just in the middle of waving at a girl who was proudly waving her Bi flag when he felt soft fingers circling his wrist. 

“Are you single?” someone shouted in his ear. By luck, they had chosen his only hearing ear. He turned to glare at the person who rudely asked him that but stopped dead in his tracks.

The guy was around his age, Adam guessed, and a bit taller than him. His pale skin was slightly reddened from the sun yet he was still wearing all black. The tank top he wore had a long cut where the sleeve should have been and Adam could see the muscles rippling under his skin. 

When he finally found the courage to move his eyes up, he found intense blue eyes staring back at him. Adam eyed his buzzcut and imagined what it would feel like to touch it. He was so lost in thought he almost missed the dark tattoo that curled from the boy’s neck to his shoulders. 

“I asked,” the boy said again, visibly losing patience. “Are you single?”

Adam could only dumbly nod. The boy’s lips turned upwards into a cutting smirk and pulled him along to the outskirts of the parade. He could hear the chanting before he even saw the protesters standing behind the fences. The boards they held all said the typical cliche and homophobic things they always said.

“Being gay is a sin!”

“God hates gays!”

“Adam and Eve!”

Adam would’ve laughed from the sheer absurdity if it wasn’t this upsetting to see. This was a day for him, for his community. Not for people who took one book out of context.

Anger coiled low in his stomach. How dare they ruin a perfect day like this. Did they really have nothing better to do?

“I know,” the boy said, eyeing Adam. “It makes me fucking angry too. That’s why we’re doing this.”

“Doing what?” Adam asked, struggling to keep up with the long legs of the boy next to him.

“Giving them the performance of a lifetime,” the boy said dangerously, stopping right in front of the protesters. He leaned in and it took Adam some time before he finally realised what was happening. 

He had every chance to pull away.

He stood on his tiptoes and held on for dear life instead.

The boy’s lips were soft and oh so gentle. Adam lost himself into the feel of them entirely, to the point where he didn’t even hear the shouting of the angry protesters anymore. The only thing he could focus on was this beautiful boy. His smell, the taste of his mouth, how his fingers felt tangled into his curls after his flower crown was knocked off.

The kiss deepened and somewhere, far away, he heard cheering. But Adam was more focused on the fingers tracing his bare midriff and the way the boy sucked his bottom lip into his mouth.

They pulled away and Adam subconsciously followed the boy’s lips. He opened his eyes and got one last glimpse of the boy smirking at him before the stranger turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

He didn’t even realise phones were pointing at him until it was too late. Adam smiled sheepishly and hauled ass, frantically looking for his friends.

When he finally found them, he nearly launched himself in their arms and blurted out the entire story. His friends were silent for a few seconds before Henry sighed.

“Are you saying your Pride was infinitely more successful than mine?”

Gansey rubbed his back in a comforting manner but Blue turned to him. “Why is it such a big deal? You’ve kissed guys before.”

“I felt it!” Adam exclaimed, pulling a full belly laugh from Henry. Even Blue and Gansey couldn’t contain their smiles.

“Tell me, Parrish,” Henry wheezed, “what did you feel exactly.”

Adam looked down and kicked some pebbles with the toe of his sneaker.

“Adam?” Gansey asked, sobering up immediately.

“The spark,” Adam sighed. “I felt the spark.”

“Oh no,” Blue said softly, hugging Adam tightly with as much power as her tiny body could.

“We have to find him,” Gansey said resolutely. Henry, Blue and Adam all eyed each other. They knew this side of Gansey all too well. The Gansey that stays up hours passed midnight because there is so much research he wants to do and not enough time in the day. The Gansey whose mind won’t shut up and he has to do something or he will go insane. The Gansey who lives off coffee and his mint plants and barely eats or drinks anything else because there is not enough time.

Telling this Gansey no is not an option.

Lucky for them, it didn’t take long to find the mystery guy at all. 

One of the videos people had taken of the entire spectacle, got viral on Twitter. Within a few hours, the video had 25K retweets and nearly 70K likes. Adam couldn’t watch himself making out with someone but his friends could. 

Gansey recognised him immediately.

“Ronan!” he had yelled excitedly, shoving his phone in Adam’s face. The video was open and paused just as the mystery guy was tracing Adam’s belly.

“Lynch?” Adam asked, his eyebrows shooting up. He had heard Gansey mention his best friend from high school many times. Gansey had told him about the drag racing and the alcohol but also about the farm he had and the crow that followed him anywhere.

“I’m calling him right now.” Gansey shot up with his phone already pressed onto his ear. Adam let his head fall forward onto the table in front of him and let out a deep sigh.

“There, there,” Blue said, patting his head gently. Adam tried to smile at her but he felt nervous. Would everything be different if he and Ronan talked to each other? He felt the spark, the cliche fireworks in his entire body that he used to roll his eyes at, when they kissed. Talking was an entirely different thing, though.

“He’s coming,” Gansey said, holding his phone triumphantly. “It only took me six times to reach him.”

Adam let his head fall back on the table again.

-

There was heavy knocking on their dorm room and Adam had locked himself up in the bathroom. He felt his stomach twist and when he looked down, his hands were shaking. Even when he went on dates with people, he never felt this nervous beforehand and this wasn’t even a date. 

He could hear Gansey open the door and say, “I didn’t even know you were going to Pride! I thought you were spending time with Matthew”

“He had tests or some shit,” he heard a deeper voice reply, one he had dreamed of ever since they met. “So I went instead.”

“You should’ve called.”

“I figured I would find you somewhere,” Ronan said, audibly bored with the conversation. “You, Cheng and the maggot are hard to miss.”

Adam breathed in, counted down from three and unlocked the door to the bathroom. He stepped out, fulling expecting to be disappointed but Ronan was just as beautiful as he remembered. 

His lips looked sharp, pulled back into that knife-edging smirk of his but Adam knew what they felt like on his own. He should have felt threatened, by the stories Gansey told and the way Ronan looked, the way Ronan looked at him but there was something oddly familiar about him.

Ronan seemed at a loss for words and Adam felt very much the same. Gansey coughed awkwardly and left the room, leaving the two of them standing in the middle just staring at each other.

“Couldn’t get enough of me?” Ronan finally asked teasingly, cutting the deafening silence.

“You wish, Lynch,” Adam retorted, unable to hold back a smile.

The next year, when Pride rolled around again, they all went together. Even Gansey’s new friend Noah went along.

Adam felt just as overwhelmed as the first time but this time, with his fingers curled around Ronan’s it felt comfortable and familiar.

Ronan kissed his temple and smiled down at him. He then pointed at something in the distance and Adam had to squint to make it out.

“GOD HATES PRIDE”

Adam laughed and grinned at his boyfriend. “Shall we?”

“I don’t think we have another choice.”

**Author's Note:**

> you can also follow me on [tumblr](clawsnbeak.tumblr.com)


End file.
